US embassy cable - 05KUWAIT417

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 KUWAIT 000417 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARPI 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/29/2015 
TAGS: PTER, PREL, KU, TERRORISM 
SUBJECT: MILITANT CLASHES PROVOKE COLLECTIVE SOUL 
SEARCHING, PROMPT MORE GOK ACTIONS 
 
REF: A. KUWAIT 264 
     B. KUWAIT 244 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
1. (C) Summary: Reeling from four separate shootouts between 
security forces and extremists in the past month, two of them 
in as many days, Kuwaitis are engaged in collective soul 
searching to determine what went wrong and how to prevent 
future acts of violence.  Spurred into action, the GOK has 
simultaneously moved to counter the security threat by 
putting its forces on full alert, rounding up suspected 
extremists, moving to revive a law authorizing raids to 
collect unlicensed arms and munitions and shutting down 
currency exchange operations suspected of engaging in money 
laundering.  End Summary. 
 
Atmosphere of Caution 
---------------------- 
 
2. (C) The reverberations from the January 10 and 15, and now 
January 30 and 31, shootouts between militants and security 
forces in Kuwait are being felt by all.  Nightly roadblocks 
meant to serve as extremist dragnets have lead to frequent 
traffic backups, armed National Guard forces man many 
intersections and public installations, and ongoing raids on 
militant safehouses have yielded weapons caches and/or led to 
the detention of more militants. Most of Kuwait has reacted 
calmly to the spate of incidents, with Islamists and 
progressives alike scrambling to denounce the violence. In 
short, an atmosphere of caution combined with national 
solidarity reminiscent of the initial weeks of Operation 
Iraqi Freedom has taken hold. 
 
Cooperation Leads to Detentions and Seizures of Arms Caches 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
 
3. (S) Since the January 10th shootout, the Ministry of 
Interior has killed 7 and detained approximately 50 suspected 
militants in over half a dozen raids across Kuwait, sending 
the cases of at least eight of the most dangerous militants 
to the Public Prosecutor's office for further investigation. 
Acting on intelligence provided by militants, some of their 
family members and concerned citizens, the government has 
also seized at least three arms caches containing grenades, 
explosives and weapons intended for use in planned attacks 
against Western and government targets.  In the latest 
clashes (January 30 and 31), police and security forces 
blocked off entire neighborhoods and conducted lengthy gun 
battles with militants who refused to surrender. 
 
4. (S) The group of detained militants includes both Kuwaitis 
and Saudis, which has led to unprecedented cooperation 
between the security services of both countries.  This has 
led to arrests of both Kuwaiti and Saudi militants on the 
Saudi side of the border. 
 
Return of Gun Search (Arms Collection) Law 
------------------------------------------ 
 
5. (U) In an attempt to control the availability of 
unlicensed weapons and empower security forces in their fight 
against militancy, the GOK has taken the additional step of 
dusting off an old tool: the gun search law.  Reviving the 
law -- which was initially utilized after the first Gulf War 
from 1992-1994 -- will allow police to search individuals, 
homes, and vehicles for illegal arms after obtaining a search 
warrant.  The GOK has referred the bill to the Interior and 
Defense Affairs Committee and it is expected to be passed by 
the Assembly on February 1 when the National Assembly will 
hold a Special Session to discuss the governmental response 
to the security incidents. 
 
Cracking Down on Finances: Scrutinizing Exchange Offices and 
Charities 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
6. (U)  Local dailies reported January 30 that the Ministry 
of Commerce and Industry had closed three money exchange 
offices it claimed were used in money laundering operations. 
The exchange offices reportedly allowed now detained 
militants to receive and send funds to and from other GCC 
states.  In one case, an exchange office transferred USD 3 
million to other states, mainly Saudi Arabia, over a 
three-month period.  Officials believe some of these funds 
may have been used to finance terrorist operations in Iraq by 
the Al-Zarqawi terrorist network. 
 
7. (U) The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor also accused 
several high-profile Kuwaiti charities of violating rules and 
regulations pertaining to their operations.  The Ministry 
said the Islamic Revival Heritage Society (RIHS), the Social 
Reform Society (SRS), Abdullah Al-Nouri Charity and the 
Al-Najat Society were among the known rule-violators who 
utilized portable kiosks to collect unregulated funds and 
evade government controls.  (Note: This is not the first time 
the Ministry has complained about kiosks.  During the 
temporary tenure of the current FM as Minister of Social 
Affairs and Labor in the summer of 2003, kiosks were removed 
from many prominent locations.  End Note.) 
 
Public Criticism and Soul Searching 
------------------------------------ 
 
8. (U) Kuwaitis from every spectrum of society have voiced 
their opinions about the violence and what to do about it: 
 
- In the January 17 edition of the English daily Arab Times 
(AT), editor Ahmed Jarallah called for "extreme steps" to 
save the country.  "Some parts of the country have turned 
into battlegrounds," he said, for people who are against the 
new international order born on Kuwaiti soil when it was 
liberated. 
 
- In the January 18 AT edition, MP Mohammed Al Sager 
criticized the GOK, saying that its 30-year lax attitude 
towards Islamists was responsible for the current environment. 
 
- Also criticizing the government, Ghassan Al-Otaibi wrote in 
the Arabic daily Al-Qabas on January 20 that "ruling regimes 
have used public funds to create people who hate all 
developed and civilized nations in the world." 
 
- On January 22, the Dean of the Faculty of Sharia at Kuwait 
University, Mohammed Al-Tabtabaie, said the Prophet Mohammed 
warned against those who "threaten the lives of muslims." 
 
- Also on January 22, the head of the Shiite Clerics 
Congregation, Sayed Mohammed Baqr Al-Mohri, and columnist 
Humoud Al-Khattab, blamed Kuwaiti school curricula for 
teaching children intolerance. Al-Khattab said that textbooks 
currently used in Kuwait's school system are the cause of 
extremism. 
 
9. (C) During January 31 meetings with Chairman of the Bank 
of Kuwait and the Middle East, Hamad Al-Marzouq, Chairman of 
the Commercial Bank of Kuwait Abdulmajeed Al-Shatti and CEO 
of Commercial Bank Jamal Al-Mutawa, the Ambassador asked for 
their thoughts on the shootings in Kuwait.  All three 
expressed support for the GOK in the current crackdown on 
militants and thought that the GOK was now taking things more 
seriously than they had ever before.  Al-Shatti of the 
Commercial Bank expressed concern that the GOK and the 
National Assembly members would continue to be lenient with 
the terrorists and those who support them, giving the example 
of the fundamentalist television preacher Abdulrahman Abdul 
Khaleq who the GOK still allows to preach on Kuwaiti 
television each week. 
 
10. (C) Al-Marzouq expressed concern over the widespread 
charity collection boxes in Kuwait and the way that they were 
potentially used to fund terror activities and fundamentalist 
religious groups and political movements.  He said that he 
and others had voiced this concern for years, but that the 
"conflicts within the ruling family has allowed for the rise 
of religious groups and their increased influence."  He said 
that the GOK has not had the necessary will in the past to 
crack down on misdirected charitable giving, but that he 
hoped things would change now given the recent terror 
incidents.  Without a clear line of succession in Kuwait, 
Al-Marzouq explained, the Islamists would continue to play on 
the conflicts among the ruling family, and the GOK would 
continue to have to compromise with them.  He added that 
there was "no better time than the present" for the GOK to 
crack down on the Islamists, and that a "tidal wave" of 
support for the GOK and against the Islamists would follow 
from the recent shootings.  Al-Marzouq also said that 
conflicts over money had split the Salafi movement in Kuwait 
while the Kuwaiti Muslim Brotherhood had its finances much 
more organized.  On the Islamists, including the newly 
announced political grouping Hizb Al-Ummah, Al-Marzouq said 
that "they are playing by the rules until they seize power, 
then, no more democracy."  He added that there were rumors 
linking the new party to some of those killed by the police 
in the recent terrorist incidents. 
 
11. (C) Comment: It appears that the security clashes have 
finally awakened the GOK to the serious threat posed by 
extremist Islamists. The wide range of actions being 
undertaken by the government shows the resolve with which the 
GOK is approaching its efforts to stamp out radicalism. 
Whether it will be able to do so in a short period of time 
remains doubtful.  We will encourage a sustained, 
multifaceted approach. 
 
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LEBARON